Allen Ginsberg in Denmark

Something different happens than you expect, and most of it is described in detail in 'Allen Ginsberg in Denmark'.
Dive into the story of Allen Ginsberg and his legendary tour in Denmark in 1983, when writer Lars Movin and Politiken's Kim Skotte unfold a piece of hitherto undescribed literary history with words, photographs, video and vinyl. Press, Politikens Hus. Thursday 6 February at 19.30. Read more at www politikenbillet.dk

"Every pebble from Ginsberg's visit to Denmark is turned over... there are nuggets to be found... it is obvious that Lars Movin has set out to tell about the days in 1983, when the beat generation's guru Allen Ginsberg was on tour in Denmark as a poet, musician and tirelessly advocate for a pacifist-Buddhist-poetic world renewal... a gold mine of source material... There is an impressive excavation behind this book, which can almost be described as a register of Ginsberg's visit and the many supporting characters involved... The book is both a retrospective travel register, a chronicle and an introduction to Ginsberg as a poet and a central figure in American and international culture and counterculture."
♥♥♥♥ Kim Skotte, Politiken

In January 1983, the American poet Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) toured Denmark. He had with him life partner Peter Orlovsky, guitarist Steven Taylor and, on part of the trip, also the Danish fan and colleague, Dan Turèll.

Over the course of a fortnight, the ensemble performed in a number of different places: two evenings in the House in Copenhagen, a televised concert in the Musikhuset in Aarhus as well as smaller events in e.g. Herning and Haderslev. Based on Ginsberg's diaries and Taylor's memoirs (both unpublished), as well as almost half a hundred new interviews with people who knew or met Ginsberg, and a wealth of other documentary material, Lars Movin maps the tour and tells about the private contacts in Aarhus , which was the basis for the visit to Denmark.

Allen Ginsberg in Denmark simultaneously draws an in-depth portrait of Ginsberg as a poet, performer and photographer; as a political activist, cultural force and unifying figure; and not least as a cosmopolitan and spearhead of a revolution of consciousness – and a living legend. In other words, an inciting portrait of the famous Beat poet, who in 1955 put into words the thoughts and feelings of a generation with the long poem "Howl".

The book contains more than 80 illustrations, many of which are shown here for the first time.